Matt Besser is a comedian, actor, writer, director and founding member of The Upright Citizens Brigade. He also hosts the weekly podcast improv4humans. He tells J. Keith about the two word prompts he’s banned at shows (hint: one’s a type of fruit and the other is a type of animal), and how it came about that he’s featured on his very own Topps baseball card.

In this episode, we’ll learn about how Matt adapted the visual format of improv to an audio-only medium, how Lyric used astrology to sort out potential dating prospects, and why Matt claims his memory is spotty, even though Lyric has a hard time believing him.

What’s the difference?

What’s the difference between “damping” and a “dampening”?

What’s the difference between “club soda” and “seltzer?”

Areas of Expertise

Matt Besser: Arkansas cults, Arkansas Razorback football post-1978 and the film Repo Man

[R] Terry Crews is the kind of performer that has his hand in all different facets of the entertainment industry. He starred alongside Ice Cube in the Friday After Next, played Chris Rock's Dad on Everybody Hates Chris, and he played the president in Idiocracy. Now he's Andy Samberg's co-star on Brooklyn Nine Nine as Sergeant Jeffords. He was also the screaming muscle man in all those Old Spice ads. But, before all that, Terry was a football player from Flint, Michigan - like not just high school and college - he played on four NFL teams over 5 years. He was picked by the LA Rams in the 11th round of the 1991 NFL Draft, and in 1996 he played his last season ever for the Eagles.

Terry and Jesse discuss football, and the culture that surrounds the player in training and on the field. They discuss what life was like for Terry after leaving the NFL, and how that time shaped his relationship to fitness. They also discuss his childhood, his relationship to success, and why he works so much.

Canonball with Marc Weingarten and Tyson Cornell: King Crimson’s 'In The Court of the Crimson King'

Every so often we like to take a closer look at albums that should be considered classics, to find out what makes them great. It's Canonball.

No one says The Rolling Stones don’t belong in the pop music canon. But what about Genesis? Or Yes? What about the prog rockers? The music wasn’t down and dirty, and the songs weren’t pop-radio short. Sometimes they were downright long. But prog has always had its loyalists.

This week Marc Weingarten and Tyson Cornell, the editors of the prog rock anthology Yes Is The Answer: (And Other Prog Rock Tales), explain why the King Crimson album In The Court of the Crimson King is a classic, and how it laid the foundation for a whole genre. They’ll explain how these classically trained musicians mixed flutes, horns, blues riffs, and synthesizers to create this face melting album.

Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham of 'Playing House': Improv in the writers' room, and showing realistic friendships on television.

Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham play best friends on TV, and if their on-screen chemistry seems real, it is. They met doing improv comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and have been writing partners ever since. They co-created and star in Playing House, a sitcom about female friendship that's more reminiscent of Lucy and Ethel than it is Carrie Bradshaw's gang.

Playing House follows Emma and Maggie, two women who have been friends forever. Maggie stayed in their hometown, got married, and is expecting a baby. Emma has been professionally ambitious, closing business deals in Shanghai, and hasn't been back to visit for what must be years.

Parham and St. Clair join us to talk about the marathon improv sessions that produce the show's jokes, and their real-life friendship.

Terry Crews is the kind of performer that has his hand in all different facets of the entertainment industry. He's Andy Samberg's co-star on Brooklyn Nine Nine, and he played the president in Idiocracy. He was also the screaming muscle man in all those Old Spice ads. His latest role is in Sandy Wexler, the new Adam Sandler comedy on Netflix. But, before all that, Terry was a football player from Flint, Michigan - like not just high school and college - he played on four NFL teams over 5 years. He was picked by the LA Rams in the 11th round of the 1991 NFL Draft, and in 1996 he played his last season ever for the Eagles.

Terry and Jesse discuss football, and the culture that surrounds the player in training and on the field. They discuss what life was like for Terry after leaving the NFL, and how that time shaped his relationship to fitness. They also discuss his childhood, his relationship to success, and why he works so much.

If you liked this, let someone know! Click here to share this segment.

Photo: Ilya S. Savenok / Stringer

Amber Tamblyn on her new movie Paint It Black

Amber Tamblyn has had a really interesting career. She is the daughter of actor Russ Tamblyn and she appeared in her first ever movie when she was only 12 years old. She's landed roles on TV shows like Joan of Arcadia, General Hospital, Inside Amy Schumer, as well as playing the beloved Tibby character in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies. Tamblyn is also a poet. She's had three books of poetry published, the latest of which, Dark Sparkler, came out a couple years ago and features photos by David Lynch. Now, Tamblyn has written and directed her first ever feature length film. It's called Paint it Black and is based on the Janet Fitch novel of the same name. It tells the story of Josie, whose boyfriend Michael dies suddenly before the film begins.

Amber and Jesse talk about what it was like to direct her first feature film, and the theme of death throughout much of her published works. They talk about what it was like to be a child actor, and the spark of creativity that becoming a new mother has given her.

If you know of the writer Elizabeth Gilbert, it's probably from her 2006 memoir, Eat Pray Love. Gilbert's book, which was about travel and love and re-gaining a sense of self, spent years atop the bestseller list and inspired a movie starring Julia Roberts. It also saddled Gilbert with a certain kind of fame.

Gilbert was already an accomplished novelist, biographer, and journalist when fame happened. But the massive success of Eat, Pray, Love necessarily transformed Gilbert's creative life.

Gilbert returned to fiction with her first novel in thirteen years, entitled The Signature of All Things: A Novel. She spent several years doing research for the book, which follows the adventures of Alma Whittaker, a 19th century botanist who studies moss. The book shines with Alma's curiosity for life and science, and her struggle of self-discovery.

She'll talk about why she chose to write a "great moss novel", how she chose to write her heroine Alma (homely, brilliant, and moneyed), and how she dealt with a certain kind of fame.(This segment originally aired in October 2013)

When you lose a few pounds it's natural to buy new clothes. You might try on those skin tight jeans that look so great on the model. But, trying on new clothes isn't always fun. Sometimes it's downright embarrassing. Patton Oswalt will explain why he didn't end up with new pants.

His most recent stand up special, Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time, is out now. He's actually gone silent for the summer. Taking a break from the internet. But you can catch him live in LA starting September 13.

Daryl Hall, best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of Hall & Oates, is a singer, songwriter and producer with a collection of #1 songs to his name. He spent his formative years in Philadelphia around soul singers like Smokey Robinson.

Daryl Hall and John Oates met as students at Temple University, and went on to form a best-selling musical duo with chart-toppers like "Rich Girl", "Sara Smile", and "Private Eyes". Hall talks about his first meeting with Oates, and how he used disco and punk rock to help create Hall & Oates' signature sound.

His newest project is a web series called Live from Daryl's House of performances and collaborations with a diverse set of musicians that's included Minus the Bear, Cee-lo Green, Toots and the Maytals, Chromeo and the Neon Trees.(This segment originally aired on The Sound of Young America in February 2011)